Yesterday I flew from Gunnedah Airport in Australia to Norfolk Island. This was a distance of 927 miles, my furthest flight so far in the Kodiak. I took off from Norfolk Island about 15 minutes ago headed for the northern tip of the north island of New Zealand to Kaitaia airport, a distance of 452 miles. Although the calculated fuel burn is only about 120 gallons, I topped out the tanks with 320 gallons. You never know when you might get lost! I’m also flying at FL200, 20,000 feet! My MFD indicates that I have two hours to my destination–in other words, my ETE. I’m leveled off at FL200 now. The prop is pulled back from 2200 to 2000 RPM. The power is set for 1172 Ft-Lb torque, giving a fuel burn of about 247 pounds per hour (PPH). The temperature is -25° C, the IAS is 148kt and the TAS is 201kt. I currently have about an 8kt tail wind and my GS is 205kt.
14:28 zulu: I just arrived at Kaitaia. Here are some statistics for my flight from Norfolk Island, YSNF, to Kaitaia, NZKT:
- Distance – 453 nm
- Fuel consumption – 118 gallons
- Fuel consumption PPH (Pounds per hour) – 41
- Time enroute – 2:53 (includes startup, preparation (flight plan) and taxi
Now I plan to make a short hop to NZKK, Kerikeri/Bay of Islands Airport. My current assignments for the flight from Norfolk Island are to drop 3 passengers in Hamilton, NZHN (Cliff Tate’s home airport) and 4 passengers in Tauranga, NZHT. I would like to land at several small airports on the flight down to Tauranga although, being the middle of the night, it doesn’t make much sense! Perhaps I can take on another couple of passengers along the way. I still have 200 gallons of fuel on board so I shouldn’t have to refuel. Keri Keri is only 33 nm.
Sure enough, I found 2 more passengers going to Hamilton from Kaitaia so I am now completely loaded. I had to put the cargo pod back on in order to put the CG in a reasonable location, about 74 inches aft of datum.
Here is what the aircraft loading looks like without the cargo pod:
Here is what it looks like with the cargo pod:
But here is a better solution. I’ve removed the cargo pod again but removed the 115 lb from the baggage compartment and changed the passenger weights. It has moved the CG back a bit but still reasonable. The aircraft performance will be much better without the cargo pod!
Here is a short video clip of my flight from Kaitaia to Kerikeri:
Tortui 